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House subcommittee gives DOJ tech programs mixed funding results

Technology programs at the Justice Department along with the department’s topline budget will take a hit in the coming fiscal year should a House Appropriation subcommittee gets its way, although the FBI would be able to look forward to increases in its technical personnel budget.

The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee voted in a July 7 markup in favor of a fiscal 2012 Justice budget of $72.34 billion, $61.89 million below the president’s request and $45.91 million less than what Congress gave DOJ in the current fiscal year. The full committee is set to consider the funding bill on July 13.

According to the report accompanying the subcommittee mark, among the affected budget lines would be the Justice Information Sharing Technology, for which the subcommittee would appropriate $44.31 million, $10 million below the request and $15.86 million less than the current year.

The budget line is a centralized account under the control of the DOJ chief information officer. Among the programs that it funds is the Law Enforcement Sharing Program, a Justice-wide effort to share information about terrorism, criminal activity, and threats to public safety. Also under the info sharing budget line is the Unified Financial Management System, the department’s cybersecurity program, and the Joint Automated Booking System. JABS, like its name implies, automates the booking process for DOJ law enforcement components, and also interfaces with the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.